This week we had the privilege to have a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE), Staff Sergeant Derrick Green of the Alaska National Guard, come out and speak to our Stellerites about drug awareness and prevention.

As a DRE, Staff Sergeant Green has been trained to use a 12-step evaluation to determine if an individual is under the influence of drugs and alcohol and to specify which class of drug(s) is being used. Staff Sergeant Green used this training as a military police officer, and later transformed his education into drug prevention and education programs for youth and adults.

Staff Sergeant Green has offered to come to Steller for an evening of parental education in drug recognition and awareness.  Learn how to talk with your pre-teens & teens about drugs, how to recognize signs and symptoms of drug use, and what to do if you suspect your child is using drugs.

If you are interested in participating in an educational parent-night for drug awareness and prevention, please let me know a day of the week and time of night that would work best for you.  I would like to get an idea of date/time that will work best for the majority of families and schedule accordingly with Staff Sergeant Green.

Nurse Wendy

williams_wendy@asdk12.org

907-742-4963

Health Screening

Just a reminder that all 7^th, 10^th, and new-to-district students will undergo health screening starting in October.  Health screening will include vision, hearing, height, and weight.  If there is a concern regarding your student’s screening, a referral will be mailed home.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me @ 742-4963 or Williams_wendy@asdk12.org.

Red Ribbon Week 10/23 – 10/31 2010

Steller Secondary will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week again this year in an effort to educate our students about the dangers of substance abuse and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

Red Ribbon Week is a National Campaign that was initiated after drug traffickers in Mexico murdered DEA Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.  I would encourage you to get more information about Red Ribbon Week and talk with your student about substance abuse.

What you can do:

• Talk to your children about the dangers of drug abuse.
• Set clear rules for your children about not using drugs.
• Set a good example for your children by not using illegal drugs or medicine without a prescription.
• Monitor your children’s behavior and enforce appropriate consequences, so that your rules are respected.
• Encourage family and friends to follow the same guidelines to keep children safe from substance abuse.

Tips for parents to prevent prescription drug abuse from The National Family Partnership (WWW.NFP.ORG)

• If your child is on prescribed medication, monitor the dosages and refills. Set clear rules, such as, not sharing and always following proper dosages.
• Warn your youngsters that taking prescription or OTC drugs without a doctor’s supervision can be just as dangerous and potentially lethal as taking street drugs.
• Supervise your child’s Internet use: many pharmacy sites are not regulated and will sell your child medications without prescriptions.
• Properly dispose of old, expired or unused medicines in the trash. Hide or mix them with cat litter or coffee grounds before throwing them away in an empty can or bag.
• DO NOT flush medications down the drain or toilet, unless the label indicates it is safe to do so.

Cold & Flu Season

The official start of the flu season is the month of October.  Although Steller has seen it’s fair share of sick students, it will likely get worse before it gets better (our flu season peaks in February and does not decline until April.)  School attendance is important, however, a sick student who appears ill should remain home.  Please do not send a sick student to school to be examined by the nurse.  This may expose others to unnecessary illnesses.  *Parents are notified before students are excused from school for illness.  Please make sure your contact number(s) are kept current throughout the year and notify us when your student will be staying with a family friend or family member.  Home care information can be found at:

<http://www.pandemicflu.alaska.gov/pdfs/HomeCareGuide.pdf>

What can families, students, and school personnel do to keep from getting sick and spreading the flu?

• Cover your mouth and nose. The main way that the flu spreads is from person to person in the droplets produced by coughs and sneezes, so cover coughs or sneezes with your elbow instead of your hand.  If you are wearing short sleeves, use a tissue and wash your hands immediately.
• Practice good hand hygiene.  Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Hand sanitizers are also effective.
• Stay home if you are sick. Keeping sick students at home means that they keep their viruses to themselves rather than sharing them with others.  Sick people should stay at home until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever or signs of a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine).
• Clean surfaces and items that are more likely to have frequent hand contact such as desks, door knobs, keyboards, phones, or pens, with cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas.

Other important illness information:

• Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) should not be given to children or teenagers; this can cause a rare but serious illness called Reye’s syndrome.
• Contact your health care provider if you have an underlying respiratory illness or severe symptoms occur.  Severe symptoms include: dehydration, not eating, listless, delusional, or unable to keep down any food or fluids, high fevers despite fever reducers, you have a high fever with rash, getting sick again after getting better, or with questions/concerns.

More information on Seasonal flu or H1N1 flu can be found at www.flu.gov or www.cdc.gov/flu

Nurse Wendy

October is Fire Prevention Month.  This year’s theme is “Heaters Need Space.”  One of the leading causes of home fires in Alaska is misuse of heating equipment, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety, Fire & Life Safety Division.  Please be aware that heat sources need 36 inches of space from other objects & combustibles.

Also, don’t forget to check your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to make sure they are in working order.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Wendy A. Williams, RN
School Nurse/504 Coordinator

The Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is September 25, 2010. This will be a great opportunity to dispose of prescription drugs in a safe and legal manner. The water supply will be protected and unneeded prescription drugs will be safely collected instead of ending up in the dump or used illegally.

The collection sites statewide will be at Trooper Offices. In Anchorage, the Troopers Office is at 5700 E. Tudor Road and the hours are 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.. I understand that the 3 major Anchorage hospitals will be participating and many Fred Meyer Pharmacy locations.  Find a Collection site @ http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/takeback/
The official release information is listed below.

Nurse Wendy

We have many students with a wide variety of food allergies.  At this age level, most students are able to identify what they are eating and if it contains a potential allergen.   Many times however, the food allergen can be a hidden ingredient that has life threatening implications.  The majority of allergic reactions at this age level occur because the student ate something given to them by a friend that was presumed to be safe.  With that said, it would be great if you could label the ingredients in your homemade foods that are brought in to be shared with others (advisory snacks, BBQ’s, class events etc).   The common food allergy offenders are shellfish, seafood/fish, milk/dairy, wheat, legumes/peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, soy, and pit fruits.